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PacifiCorp is seeking proposals to build 1.1 GW of new wind projects by 2020 as part of a broader wind and transmission expansion plan.

The request for proposal (RFP) establishes a competitive bidding process for the company to select the most cost effective way to add at least 1,100 MW of new wind generation to the resource mix used to serve customers across six states. The exact capacity of the new resources will depend upon response from the market.

Stefan Bird, president and CEO of Pacific Power, the unit of PacifiCorp that serves customers in Oregon, Washington, and California, said:

“We have a golden opportunity to cost effectively expand the amount of renewable energy serving customers. These new wind resources are a key part of the company’s plan to both meet customer energy needs and continue our cost-conscious transition to less carbon-intensive energy.”

As envisioned, the proposed additional wind generation would produce power equivalent to the annual consumption of approximately 400,000 typical homes and would expand the amount of PacifiCorp’s owned or contracted wind serving customers by about 35 percent.

The new wind energy is part of the company’s Energy Vision 2020 initiative, which also will upgrade or “repower” the company’s existing wind fleet with longer blades and newer technology and build a new 140-mile high-voltage transmission line in Wyoming that will help more wind energy connect to PacifiCorp’s transmission system.

The Energy Vision 2020 projects were identified in the company’s 2017 Integrated Resource Plan as the most cost-effective option to meet customers’ energy needs over the next 20 years. Completing the projects by 2020 will allow customers to realize the full benefit of production tax credits and provide a net savings for customers over the life of the projects.

Responses to the request for bids are due by October 17, 2017 for Wyoming projects and by October 24 for non-Wyoming projects.

The company expects to have made final decisions and completed agreements by mid-April 2018.